BOC Hong Kong () : 2021 first half profit after tax reaches HK$13,591million

Customer deposits and advances grow and financial indicators remain sound.

BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Limited ('the Company', stock code '2388'; ADR OTC Symbol: 'BHKLY') today announced its 2021 interim results. The Company and its subsidiaries ('the Group') continues to pursue its strategic goal of building a first-class regional banking group.

During the period, the Group's financial indicators remained solid as it met tough market challenges and captured business opportunities while adhering to its principles of prudent risk management.

Seizing business opportunities to deliver steady growth in core businesses As of the end of June 2021, the Group's total assets amounted to HK$3,834,870 million, an increase of 15.5% from the end of last year. The growth in deposits from customers and advances to customers outpaced the market average. Profit after tax was HK$13,591 million, down 15.9% year-on-year, mainly led by lower net interest income as a result of falling market interest rates.

The Group's swift response to market conditions helped drive growth in fee income, while prudent cost control kept operating expenses at a stable level. This helped partially offset the negative impact of low interest rates. Compared with the second half of last year, profit after tax went up by 10.4%. Although the external operating environment remains challenging, the Group endeavours to provide relatively stable shareholder returns. The Board has declared an interim dividend per share of HK$0.447, which was unchanged from the same period last year.

The Group carefully managed its assets and liabilities to drive steady growth in its core businesses.

After adjusting for the IPO-related activities impact during the period, total deposits from customers increased by 5.2% from the end of last year, increasing its market share in Hong Kong by 0.22 percentage points to 15.21%. The Group continued to improve its deposit structure, which led to solid growth in current accounts and savings deposits ('CASA') and a rise in the CASA ratio to 68.8%. The Group continued to capture business opportunities in its three major markets of Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area and Southeast Asia, acquire new customers and serve new industries. After adjusting for the IPO-related activities impact, advances to customers grew by 6.1% from the end of last year, further expanding its market share in Hong Kong by 0.23 percentage points to 13.99%.

In a continuing low interest rate environment, the Group made every effort to ease pressure on its interest margin by optimising its asset and liability structure and steadily increasing average

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interest-earnings assets, which grew by 12.3% year-on-year. After adjusting for the foreign exchange swap-related impact, net interest income in the first half of 2021 declined by 18.0% year-on-year to HK$16,254 million and edged down by 1.8% as compared with the second half of last year. Net fee and commission income amounted to HK$6,657 million, up 22.5% year-on- year and 23.1% as compared with the second half of last year. This was mainly attributable to a solid year-on-year growth of 26.4% in commission income from the investment and insurance business, which benefited from the vibrant capital market and mutual market access business.

Also contributing to this growth was the rebound in traditional fee income due to the resumption of economic activity in Hong Kong as the pandemic eased.

The Group's major financial indicators were maintained at solid level. Its capital ratios remained sound despite a temporary drop due to the impact of IPO financing at the end of June. The total capital ratio was 19.79%, while the Tier 1 capital ratio was 17.61%. The average value of liquidity coverage ratio was 134.20% in the second quarter, and the net stable funding ratio was 118.50% as of the end of the second quarter. Asset quality was benign overall, with the classified or impaired loan ratio of 0.29% staying below the market average. Provisions were adequate with an above market average non-performing loan provision coverage ratio of 201%. During the period, the Group continued to follow low-carbon practices and optimise its business operations.

Operating expenses were flat thanks to effective cost controls. The cost to income ratio stood at 30.27%, which was better than the industry average.

Strengthening local market commitment and integrated service capabilities The Group consolidated its traditional advantages in its core market of Hong Kong and adjusted the customer and business mix to create new growth catalysts. In wealth management, the Group further refined customer segmentation and generated 18% and 33% year-on-year growth in the AUM and wealth management income from mid- to high-end customers in the first half of 2021.

The Group also upgraded the property search function and mortgage application scenarios of its Home Expert mobile application using innovative technology. During the period, the number of monthly average online mortgage applications rose more than 2.6 times over last year's monthly average. The Group also maintained its top market position in terms of the total number of new residential mortgage loans. In the Corporate Banking business, the Group cemented its leading market position and further strengthened its competitive edge in the Hong Kong and Macao syndicated loan business, IPO main receiving bank business and cash pooling business.

Furthermore, the new intermediate business grew with a 36% year-on-year increase in bond underwriting volume and a 6.2% rise in total assets under custody as compared to the previous year-end.